For the second time this calendar year, Williamston Theatre is returning to outer space with a play that is rooted in fact and biography.

Earlier this year, they went to Mars. Now they are shooting for the stars and mapping a path beyond our galaxy with Lauren Gunderson’s “Silent Sky.”

“Silent Sky,” which opened in previews last week and has its official opening night on Sept. 28, tells the story of Henrietta Leavitt, one of the female, human “computers” at Harvard Observatory at the turn of the 20th Century. Forbidden from using telescopes—something restricted only to men—Leavitt still manages to make astonishing discoveries that formed the basis of modern astronomy and our understanding that there are galaxies beyond the Milky Way.

“She discovered the relationship between how stars pulse and which ones took the longest to blink and which were the farthest away,” said Tony Caselli, of Williamston’s 2018-2019 opener. “She discovered that there was a pattern and once she made this realization, she published the work, which was very rare for a woman at the time to do.”

At the time, male astronomers used the telescopes to observe the stars and take pictures. The women would then study the glass plates and do the mathematical calculations.

“Harvard was trying to create the largest astronomical database in the world,” Caselli said.

There were other women besides Leavitt who made important discoveries and their stories are told as well, by a cast of five performers, some of whom are familiar to Williamston’s stage and two who are new. Returning are Karen Sheridan, Sarab Kamoo and Michael Lopetrone. New to the stage are Katherine Banks and Annie Dilworth.

“It’s a fabulous group of people who are really skilled and wonderful to work with,” Caselli said. “I couldn’t be happier with how the show is coming together.”

Caselli said that three of the people in the play are based on real people. However, he said the play isn’t merely biography or solely about astronomy.

“In a large sense, the play is very much about not settling for the status quo,” Caselli said. “Because they can’t use the telescopes, the only chance she’s ever going to get is using someone else’s work. She went above and beyond what her job called for her to do. This play has a little bit of everything. It really is very funny, but it tugs on the heartstrings and is very much about family as well.”

Williamston is also reaping what it learned from “Out of Orbit” to make “Silent Sky” a spectacle. They’ve ramped up their use of projections and Caselli said they’ve got really beautiful audio and visual things—sights, sounds, props and set.

“It’s not just a beautiful story, but it has a lot of spectacle, which is really fun for us. We’re using the space in a lot of fun ways and I’m looking forward to sharing this one with our regular patrons and subscribers,” Caselli said.

He said the fact that they did two plays about space in an eight-month period was accidental, but it wasn’t accidental that the plays feature strong female protagonists, because they were actively seeking out plays that had that.

It’s part of what led them back to Laurie Gunderson, the playwright of this show and of “The Taming,” which opened their last season. Gunderson has become over the past two years the most produced playwright in America who is not Shakespeare, according to the American Theater magazine.

“Her work is wonderful,” Caselli said. “She did the ‘The Taming’ that we did last year—this is a completely different play except that it has amazing strong women characters not settling for the way the world is and changing it to make it a better place. They are beautifully done and really inspirational. I think she’s a tremendous talent.”

Caselli also attributed Gunderson’s popularity to the world being in a new Golden Age of theater where people are realizing “it isn’t just old white guys—and I put myself in the old white guy category” who have stories to tell.

“She writes stories that move people. She creates characters that we fall in love with and she tells these stories in a way that motivate people to want to change the world and be the best versions of themselves. That’s one of the biggest reasons people are gravitating toward her. The plays are smart and funny and engaging, but also inspirational.”